REDO
by recodan
Summary: A Sakura-centric time travel fic. SasuSaku. Contains a scene where the Third is on the john. Undated based on patheticness of my existance.
1. Chapter 1

Sakura woke from a vaguely unpleasant dream, feeling the warmth of the morning sun on her face. She'd gone to be the night before, worrying about Naruto. He'd hurt himself so much fighting against Hidan and Kakuzu and despite how much she had improved, Sakura still felt like she has been useless. Her medical techniques, already beyond those of normal medics, had been woefully short of what had been needed and despite the fact that Tsunade had told her she was strong enough to qualify for special jounin already, Sakura hadn't been able to do a thing to help.

Shaking off the sad feelings, Sakura sat up and stretched, yawning deeply. She immediately froze when she realized two things that felt wrong.

One: Her hair felt like she'd grown it back out to where it had been when she started as a genin.

Two: Her admittedly small breasts felt like they'd shrunk. As she didn't have much to start with, this annoyed her greatly, but concern tempered her notorious temper.

Cautiously, she opened her eyes.

" What the hell?" she exclaimed softly, looking around. She was in her room at her parents house, but it had been changed. Things were out of place, her medical scrolls were gone, and the old posters of Sasuke he'd torn down were back.

Then her eyes fell on the calendar. It read three years in the past, on the day she'd first been put on team seven. In dawning comprehension she looked to the mirror and saw not her fifteen year old self, but her twelve year old body.

_No way._ she thought, instinctively canceling the genjutsu. She'd practiced with Kurenai and knew there were very, very few genjutsu users who could effect her, which was only slightly reassuring to her when the room stayed the same. _This is like something out of those stories you read on fan fiction dot com. This can't be real, but how are they doing this?_

Experimentally she got out of bed. Her body seemed just like it had been back then, down to a paper cut she'd gotten from the written exam on the genin test. It seemed to fabulous to be real, but after spending fifteen minutes checking for signs of any trickery, she came to the conclusion that she was really back in time. Her body was as weak as it had been back in the day, low on chakra and muscle.

But she could remember everything.

She performed a few medical jutsu for practice, testing to see if they worked. After flawlessly healing the paper cut and slicing a pencil in half with the chakra scalpel technique, she tested the strength enhancement jutsu by kicking bed.

It flew into the wall with a WHUMP!

" Sakura, sweetie, it's about time for you to go!" her mother called from downstairs. " You don't want to be late for team assignment!"

" No I don't, mom." said Sakura, tears welling up in her eyes. " I'll be right down."

The reason the tears were in her eyes was simple. Just like in the poorly punctuated and grammatically butchered stories she'd read, she now had the most wonderful gift she could imagine. With the knowledge of what was to come and the skills to actually matter this time around.

It was time to kick Ino's ass and take names.

--

" First!" shouted Sakura, walking triumphantly though the door to the academy. Ino was still sprinting down the street, woefully behind her. With the chakra focusing techniques Sakura had been able to boost her speed enough that she'd had enough time to pick herself up some leather combat gloves like she favored without even worrying that Ino would catch up.

" You…cheater…" wheezed Ino, stumbling in.

" Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Naruto called from his seat, waving to her.

" Morning Naruto!" Sakrua called back, leaving the gasping Ino and walking towards her seat by the blonde and Sasuke. " How are you?" she greeted.

" Great!" said Naruto, looking a little surprised but staying loud. " Hey, nice gloves, Sakura-chan!"

" Thanks." she said with a smile, taking her seat. " So, who do you think your getting on your genin team?" she inquired.

" Well…..uh….." said Naruto, caught off guard.

" Actually, I already know." said Sakura, looking to Sasuke. " They put the best and worst on the same team. You'll be with Sasuke."

" That would be stupid." grunted Sasuke, glancing over. " He'd just get in my way."

" Me? Ha! A loser like you'd only slow me down!" declared Naruto.

Sakura sweat dropped, scowling slightly. That hadn't gone quite as planned, but it seemed about right. She'd forgotten how the two acted around each other.

" Baka!"

" Teme!"

" Stuck up!"

" Loser!"

" **SHUT THE HELL UP!**" Sakura shouted at the top of her voice, making both boys jump. She instantly settled back into a calm look. Sasuke looked quizzically at her, having never been told off by a fan girl before, and Naruto looked bashful.

" Morning, everyone!" said Iruka, strutting inside with a bright smile on his face. He nodded to Naruto, who smirked back, believing themselves to be the only ones who knew the secret of the previous night. " So, who's ready to be put onto their teams?" he asked, taking a seat on his desk.

" Me! Me me me me!" shouted Naruto, waving his hand.

" Be patient, Naruto." said Iruka, sweat dropping as Sakura knocked Naruto face first into the desk. " I'm going to read off the teams, then we'll break for an early lunch. Afterwards, your jounin teachers will come by for introductions. Team one will be the crybaby, brace face, and zit girl. Team two will be what's his name, the skank, and Poppin Fresh…."

Sakura tuned out the nobodies. She already knew who was going to be on what team and which ones would be passing. When Naruto cheered at being put on her team and collapsed for being put on Sasuke's, she had to smile. It was so nostalgic anyone would be touched.

" All right, everyone, see you after lunch." said Iruka, when he finished. Everyone mulled off to their respective lunches, with Naruto of course asking Sakura to go get ramen with him. She felt a little sorry for turning him down, but she had something more important to do at the moment.

Namely, she needed to head into the woods and see how much weaker she was in combat.

--

" Ow." moaned Sakura, rubbing her red knuckles. She was seated with Naruto and Sasuke in the classroom, waiting for Kakashi.

The training had gone….badly. Sakura never realized how much more chakra she'd built up over the years, how much faster she'd gotten, and how much stronger her muscles had been. She felt uncoordinated, weak, and slow, though she still knew she was at least a chunnin.

The strength enhancement jutsu was the hardest on her. She'd forgotten how it had felt before she'd gotten used to the technique, since the human body wasn't really supposed to hit that hard. Her knuckles and heels were sore and she'd had to repair a minor fracture, but she'd figured out about what her body could take.

_And come on. I can punch though a tree in one hit._ she thought with a smirk. _Original Sakura could barely punch though paper and didn't have any real taijutsu training. I'm still awesome. _

" We should prank him for being late." said Naruto, leaping to his feet.

" Yeah!" Sakura agreed heartily. She was willing to help this time and glad Naruto had spoken, since it meant it was about time for Kakashi to arrive.

" I got a good idea too." said Naruto, smirking as he ran to the chalkboard and grabbed the eraser. As he went over to stick it in the door, Sakura stopped him. " What?" he asked.

" There's a jutsu I learned that will help." she said, taking the eraser and putting it on a desk. She formed three hand seals and touched the eraser, causing it to vanish. Naruto blinked in shock. " It's a trick ANBU developed for hiding things in the field." she explained, handing Naruto the invisible eraser.

" That's awesome!" said Naruto, wide eyed.

" Thanks." replied Sakura as he put it in the door. " It's not much of a trick, though. It's a transparency jutsu and it only lasts a few minutes."

" How did you learn an ANBU technique?" inquired Sasuke as they sat back down.

" It's was declassified a while ago." Sakura explained, going into the lie she'd prepared. " Since it was deemed harmless and useful to lower level ninja. When I was volunteering to help the hospital one of the medic-nin tutored me in some simple ninjutsu."

" Hn." grunted Sasuke, giving her a unusual look. Sakura realized he was reappraising her, since the Sakura he knew about was completely useless and had never demonstrated any special jutsu.

Then, there was the scuff off the door.

This time, truly caught by surprise, Kakashi entered and was hit by the eraser. It reappeared, covering him in dust as it fell. He came to a halt, his one eye blinking.

" Got ya!" laughed Naruto, pointing at him. " That'll teach you to be late!"

" Yeah!" shouted Sakura in agreement as Sasuke sighed deeply.

--

_His introduction was still lame._ thought Sakura as Kakashi looked to them.

" I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" shouted Naruto, going first. He began to adjust his headband over and over as he spoke. " I like ramen! I hate how long it takes to cook instant ramen! My dream is to become the Hokage, believe it!"

" Good." said Kakashi with a nod. " And you?" he asked, looking to Sasuke.

" My name is Sasuke Uchiha." said Sasuke, in his best brooding pose and voice. " There are not many things I like or dislike. I don't have any dreams, but I do have a goal: To revive my clan and kill a certain man."

" And finally, you, miss." said Kakashi, looking to Sakura as Naruto and Sasuke began to glare at each other.

" My name is Sakura Haruno. I like the color pink and my hobby is volunteering at the hospital. I dislike Ino-pig and snakes. My dream is to become a powerful kunochi and the best medic-nin in the village."

Sakura was rather surprised with Kakashi blinked, apparently taken aback.

" Medic-nin?" he asked gingerly. " I-I thought your file said you were a genjutsu type."

" I am, but I prefer medical jutsu." said Sakura, mind reeling. _What is this?_ she wondered. _He never acted like this before!_

" O-okay then." said Kakashi, rubbing the back of his head. Then, he rallied. " Well, that does it for today. I'd like you three to meet me at training ground seven tomorrow for your final test."

" Final test?" Naruto asked loudly. " We already passed!"

" No, you passed the exam that allows you to take this test. It's a survival test unlike any you've ever taken." explained Kakashi, a devious glint in his eye. " And don't eat breakfast."

" W-why?" asked Naruto, looking intimidated.

" Because if you do, you'll throw up." said Kakashi with a laugh before vanishing.

"….I really hope this guys not a pedophile." said Naruto, sweat dropping.

--

Kakashi arrived just as Sakura finished the small snack she'd brought. She'd known to eat a light breakfast this time and have something for energy before lunch.

Naruto and Sasuke looked jealous.

" Good morning." Kakashi said cheerfully. " Now that you three are finally here, we can begin."

" You were the late one!" Naruto accused.

" Details." said Kakashi, dismissing the comment. He held up his hand, which had two bells in them. " See these bells? The test is to get one of them from me."

" Ha! That's a lame test." laughed Naruto.

" If you don't get one, you go back to the academy." said Kakashi, hooking them to his belt. Sasuke and Naruto suddenly looked worried. " And I'm sure that you noticed that there are only two."

" That means someone has to fail, right?" asked Sasuke, eyes narrowing as a look of excitement crossed his face. He was obviously looking forwards to this.

" Right." said Kakashi with a nod.

" It won't be me!" shouted Naruto, drawing a kunai. Sakura's training allowed her to see Kakashi's movement and sense the chakra he used to boost his speed, giving her an idea of how much faster he was. The advantage was his in everything, just as before, but Sakura knew she could still have some fun.

" Now now." said Kakashi, grasping the stunned Naruto's arm. " I didn't say start yet. And……." he trailed off as he let go of Naruto, backing a short distance away. " Go."

On his word Sakura punched the ground with all the force she thought safe. The earth split and shattered, forcing Kakashi and Sasuke to leap away and Naruto to fall into a crevice.

" What….strength…." said Kakashi, his visible eye wide. Sakura gave a cute chuckle and lunged, speed and strength boosted by chakra. Now that Kakashi knew he couldn't afford to get hit he dodged the vicious taijutsu assualt, ducking around quickly shattered trees and rocks as Sakura pressed forwards. _I don't even have a chance of hitting him with a lucky strike._ she mused, amazed as always at Kakashi's skill. He eventually vanished, leaving her alone in the rubblized woods.

" Oof." panted Sakura, leaning over to catch her breath. She'd used a lot of chakra in the attack, a reminder that her current reserve sucked. " Gonna have to watch that." she said out loud, looking up as she heard the burst of flames.

Off in the distance Sasuke and Kakashi were locked in a quasi-epic struggle as Sasuke threw everything he had at Kakashi and the jounin walked out of the way. True, the fireball jutsu and Sasuke's taijutsu skill caught him off guard, but he was still safe, even from the replicated shuriken. Sakura stood and watched the fight in it's completion. It was only then that it truly struck her that she had Sasuke back.

The old Sasuke. He had no cursed seal warping his mind and hadn't met with Itachi yet. He was simply the same old stuck up she'd loved back then, desperately trying to convince himself and everyone that he was the best ninja alive.

She wiped her moist eyes with a gloved hand as he was pulled into the ground, an inglorious and cute end to the battle.

--

Sakura sat down exhaustedly as Kakashi tied Naruto to the long. Naruto had done just as well as before, which meant he got anal probed and made an idiot out of himself after surprising Kakashi.

" Hey! What gives!" shouted Naruto, struggling under the ropes.

" You did the worst, so your punishment is to be tied to the log." said Kakashi, stepping back. " And you have to stay hungry while these two eat." he explained, handing the lunches to Sakura and Sasuke.

" But that's not fair!" whined Naruto.

" Yeah." said Sakura with a nod. " Since he did the worst, not having any food is going to make him mess up worse."

" That's how this test works." said Kakashi in an fake tone of disinterest. " It weeds out the weak. And if either of you feed him, I'll fail you. See you after lunch." he said, walking off and vanishing. Sakura could detect his presence, just outside of vision.

" Ha!" laughed Naruto. " I'm not even that hungry!"

Sasuke and Sakura sighed as Naruto's stomach gurgled loudly.

" Here." said Sakura, standing up. " I don't care what he says, not feeding Naruto is stupid. Right, Sasuke?"

" Yeah." grunted the dark haired boy, taking a bite of rice. Sakura smirked slightly, glad he'd spoken. She was prodding him so it would look good for Kakashi, since if he didn't participate they would fail. " Are you going to share with him?" he asked.

" It's not a problem. I'm on a diet anyways, so I'm not going to eat all this." Sakura lied.

" T-thanks, Sakura-chan!" said Naruto, looking thankful. " But what if sensei catches you?"

" Naruto, you're my teammate." explained. Sakura. " You and I and Sasuke are going to depend on each other in the field to watch each others backs. If you aren't capable of fighting, we could die. I'd share my food with both of you if I needed to, just like Sasuke or you would."

" Unless its dumplings." Sasuke interjected though a mouthful of rice. Naruto and Sakura looked to him, faces blank. " What?" Sasuke asked defensively. " I like dumplings. I don't care if you two are starving in the field and I'm sitting on a mountain of them, you two don't get one."

" Same goes for my ramen, then." Naruto growled.

" Anyways, here." sighed Sakura, rolling her eyes and inserting a piece of food into Naruto's mouth. There was a blast of smoke, signaling that Kakashi had returned.

" You guy's completely rock!" he shouted at the top of his voice, his eye watery. Sakura was as stunned as Naruto and Sasuke as the jounin skipped around. " Completely and absolutely! For years I've failed every team of rejects that came my way because they didn't get the point of this test!"

" Wait, what?" asked Sasuke, eye twitching.

" It's not about the bells, it's about teamwork!" laughed Kakashi, doing a cartwheel. " If a ninja disobeys orders, he's seen as scum, but a ninja that abandons their friends are worse than scum! You three totally pass!"

" All right!" shouted Naruto, rice spraying from his mouth onto Sakura, who sighed and slumped slightly. Sasuke looked triumphant as Kakashi ended his joyous gymnastics.

" Anyways, your skills still need some work." said Kakashi, instantly going back to normal bored mode. " Though Sakura, your….strength….is….uh….yeah."

" How'd you do that, anyways?" inquired Naruto as Sakura loosened him from the ropes.

" Chakra focusing." Sakura replied. " I took a normal technique that focus chakra into one part of your body and modified if for releasing as I strike objects. I got the idea by reading about the Sannin Tsunade. It takes really good chakra control, Naruto, so don't ask me to teach you." she said, seeing the look on his face.

" Well, it's quite impressive." said Kakashi, regaining their attention. " Your taijutsu forms are rather advanced as well and your chakra control must be quite good. I'll test you later on your medical jutsu. But your problem seems to be endurance. You tired far faster than Naruto and Sasuke."

" I'll work on that." said Sakura, faking a bashful nod.

" Naruto, your biggest problem is you don't think before you act. You have the coordination and speed to fight well, but you lose focus and attack wildly. And you've not been using your shadow clone jutsu for very long, have you?"

" Two days." Naruto said, looking embarrassed.

" I want you to work on that. Sasuke, you did the best of you three, but you really need to take your enemy more seriously. You may be nearly chunnin level already, but I'm a jounin. You can't underestimate me like you did."

" You only beat me once." said Sasuke with a scowl.

" With a very weak and easy to escape technique. But, you three are inexperienced ninja, so missions and training will help most of you guy's faults. Now, who wants a free dinner?" he asked, smiling under his mask. " I feel like celebrating your teamwork."

" Can we get ramen?" inquired Naruto.

" No." said Kakashi, shaking his head. " I want food that doesn't taste like wet cardboard in yak urine."

Naruto turned such a violent red he fainted before he could yell at Kakashi.

" That solves that problem." said Kakashi, picking Naruto up and hoisting him over his shoulder. " Come on, let's go. There's this place Choza Akimachi showed me that's got pretty good barbeque."

" And dumplings?" inquired Sasuke hopefully.

"….I don't know." sighed Kakashi. Sakura just giggled, knowing what the poor jounin was in for.


	2. Chapter 2

It was great to have Sasuke back.

It was great to have the team back together.

It sucked to have a weak little body and have to spend time to have to start to work it back into the shape you spent years building and growing to.

And it royally sucked to have to do D rank missions until Naruto threw his temper tantrum and the Hokage gave them the Wave Mission.

" These missions are totally lame!" shouted Naruto, pointing to the Hokage. " Give us something worthwhile!"

_Ahh._ thought Sakura. _Music to my ears._

" I agree with Naruto." she said as the Hokage sighed and Kakashi sweat dropped. " I think we're ready for something tougher.

" We've been ready for a while." grunted Sasuke.

" Missions don't work like that." explained Kakashi, trying to keep himself out of trouble. " You do D-rank missions until you have enough experience to try a C rank mission. You can't just demand one."

" Actually, I do have a mission they could take." said the Hokage, making Kakashi look up in surprise. The look on his face told Sakura he was just as eager for something more real as the genin were. " An escort mission. You'd be taking a bridge builder to his homeland, the Wave Country."

" Awesome!" said Naruto, leaping into the air happily. " There's ninja after him, right? Because he's like some sort of spy for our village and we need him to get there alive? Come on, you can tell us the truth!"

"….actually….he's just a old bridge builder who doesn't want to be robbed by bandits." muttered the Hokage, sweat dropping. " Send him it." he said as Naruto sulked, a little put off.

" What is this?" slurred the drunken Tazuna, stumbling in. " Who are these brats?"

" They are your escort." replied the Hokage.

" What? I paid for real ninja!" protested the intoxicated geezer. " Not kids! The short one with the dumb face looks like he's pretty useless to boot."

" Ha!" laughed Naruto, looking around. " Who's the short one with the dumb face!"

With a smirk and a nod, Sakura and Sasuke sidled over next to him for a height comparison.

--

" …each village had their own kage…."

Sakura was pretending to listen intently as Kakashi gave Naruto a refresher course in basic ninja know-how. She was actually on high alert, doing her best to sense the two mist ninja she knew would soon show up for their attack. She was keeping an eye out for the puddle they had hid in the first time, but wasn't going to chance missing them if they tried something different.

As much as things were the same, they were changing. True, Naruto had thrown the fit on time, but each day more and more events happened that hadn't before. Her combat abilities had thrown the team training sessions completely out of wack, since now she could actually fight with Sasuke and Naruto. Before, Sasuke's skill had been to much for her to even land a hit and Naruto's clones had always overbourn her. Now, she could give as well as she got, which had changed three things dramatically:

One: While fighting, Sasuke paid rapt attention to her. Sakura liked this, even if it was only because he was learning to fight her techniques. Her hopes were that it could become more than a professional interest.

Two: Naruto had been forced to admit throwing his real self at the enemy wasn't very smart, so he knew to let the clones do the fighting when he could.

And Three: Kakashi actually spoke to her. He still focused on Sasuke and supported/chastised Naruto, but now Sakura was on his radar for compliments and criticism.

Things had been shaping up rather nicely until they arrived at the spot Sakura knew the puddle should have been.

" The current Hokage, of course, is said to be the strongest of all the kage…." Kakashi continued in a blissful state of instruction.

" Yeah! The old man's awesome!" Naruto declared loudly, nodding his head. He missed the barely detectable movement on the right side of the road. Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi, however, did not.

_There's only one._ thought Sakura, detecting the slight movements of the chunnin as he began to stalk them. _Which means he's going to draw our attention away from the other one. Sasuke and Kakashi can handle him, so I'll find the other. _

" Anyways," continued Kakashi, glancing at Tazuna as they walked. " How are things in the Wave country?"

" Awful." grumbled the old man, walking along obliviously. " We're suffering a depression because we've lost all our trade thanks to a merchant named Gatou. That's why I'm building the bridge, so we have a new trade route that he can't control."

" Why's this guy depressing your country?" asked Naruto.

" He wants to take over. He pretty much has, too." sighed Tazuna, looking ahead. Off in the far distance the ocean was visible, hinting at their destination. " See, if he owns the whole country, he'll just open up the ports again and be able to do whatever he wants with our land. It's a good move for him."

" Huh." said Naruto, looking down and thinking it over.

Then the mist ninja made his move.

" Form up!" shouted Kakashi as the armored and cloaked man burst from the trees. Sasuke and Sakura leapt to Tazuna's side as Naruto looked up, completely taken by surprise. Kakashi charged the chunnin and met the mans attack, blocking the poisoned claw with a kunai. There was a brief flurry of movement until Kakashi was struck in the throat, falling to the side limply. Sakura spotted the replacement jutsu as he performed it, smirking slightly as the mist ninja charged forwards towards them.

" S-sensei!" shouted Naruto, breaking from his shock. The mist ninja threw a hail of shuriken at Tazuna, forcing Sasuke to interpose himself and parry the weapons. Naruto charged the mist ninja and leapt in a flying kick, crumpling as he took a clawed punch to the chest.

" Naruto!" shouted Sakura, instantly forgetting Tazuna. As the mist ninja kicked Naruto to side, blood gushing from the three deep holes in the boys torso, Sakura's anger took over. This was not supposed to have happened. Naruto was meant to get a cut, nothing more.

She focused a burst of chakra into her legs and lunged at the man as he looked up, catching him off guard with a uppercut to the chin. His mask buckled in as he was hurled into the air, flying limply down the road before landing in a unnatural, limp pile. Behind her Sakura heard Kakashi defeat the other ninja, but she didn't care. She had to attend to Naruto.

As Naruto began to groan she knelt at his side, already forming the seals for the healing palm technique.

" Naruto!" she shouted, her panic affecting her voice. " Don't move or talk!"

" G-got it." he coughed, pushing himself up with one arm. She forced him to the ground as her hands began to glow green and set to work. She stopped the bleeding and began mending the flesh, aided by Naruto's naturally quick healing. The wound was mostly superficial but, for anyone but the container of the Kyuubi, it would have been enough to end the mission. Sakura worked intently, sealing the wound and instantly beginning to remove the poison the ninja had used.

" Sakura." Kakashi called softly, startling her slightly. " Sakura, he's fine." said the jounin, patting her on the shoulder as she removed the last of the toxins. " You need to take a break."

" B-but Naruto…" Sakura began, but she trailed off as she felt something running down her lip. She tasted blood and realized, in her panic, she'd used a large amount of chakra and had strained her body to a dangerous point. " Sorry." she said, bowing her head and sitting back so she could deal with the bloody nose. " I-I was just worried."

" No, you did well." Kakashi said, looking to the wound.

" Yeah!" Naruto said boisterously, sitting up and rubbing the patch of skin he could see though the hole in his jacket. " I don't even feel anything?"

" How much poison did you remove?" Kakashi asked, looking to Sakura.

" I WAS POISONED!?" shouted Naruto, eyes going wide.

" I checked the other guy." said Sasuke, walking up from the direction of Sakura's downed foe. " He's…dead." To Sakura's confusion, he seemed somewhat disturbed.

" You…killed him?" Naruto asked Sakura, looking shocked.

" Oh." said Sakura, wondering why Naruto and Sasuke were so shaken up.

" In the line of duty a ninja must sometimes kill." explained Kakashi, helping Naruto to his feet. " Sakura, what you did was not wrong. He was an enemy who would have killed you and injured Naruto very badly."

" And tried to kill me!" Tazuna said, looking both scared and angry.

" Indeed." said Kakashi, looking up. " It's interesting both ninja targeted you."

Tazuna instantly paled.

" Now, had they been here to kill us, they wouldn't have bothered with the people we were escorting. Yet their target was you, which means that you lied to us when requesting the mission."

" Heh. I guess I did." said the old man, cornered in his deception.

" I'm going to bury the body of our dead attacker. When I come back, tell me the full story." Kakashi said in a commanding tone, walking off towards the corpse. " You three, guard the prisoner."

" Will do." Sakura said with a nod, reacting before Naruto and Sasuke. The boys were still somewhat distracted and looked surprised at the ease she followed orders.

As she made her way to the bound and unconscious ninja she realized that, unlike Sasuke and Naruto, she wasn't an innocent. They were still twelve year olds, fresh genin from the academy. True, Sasuke had seen death before, but it had been a long time since then. Sakura had only been forced to kill a few opponents in her career, but she had come to terms with what she had done and learned to live with the reality.

It hurt a little to look at them and see the cold looks in their eyes.

--

Save for Kakashi and Tazuna's occasional conversation, all was silent on the small boat.

Naruto and Sasuke seemed deep in thought, something that bothered Sakura. She needed them to be on top of their game when Zabuza attacked, since she doubted she could free Kakashi on her own if he got captured again.

" H-hey Sakura-chan." said Naruto, speaking up.

" Yes?" Sakura responded, feeling instantly relieved at he was even willing to talk.

" You killed that guy with one hit, right?" he asked, looking to her. His face was hard to read.

" Yeah." Sakura replied awkwardly.

" And all those times we sparred you could have done that to me when you hit me, right?" he inquired. He must have known the answer because he continued. " I-I didn't know you could die so fast. I thought I was doing pretty good dodging your attacks most of the time."

" You are doing good, Naruto. It's just-"

" Quiet." hissed the rower as the beach came into view. Sakura shut up and looked down at the bottom of the boat. _I guess he's realizing his mortality._ she decided. _He was always willing to put himself into any danger without even thinking of what could happen to him. Who would have thought…he'd be effected like that._

" Off, quickly." said the rower, shooing them onto land. As team seven and Tazuna got off he quickly departed, leaving them alone.

" We have a decision to make." said Kakashi, addressing his genin. " Our contract was to take Tazuna to this point. We've fulfilled it. But if we leave him here, he'll be killed before he reaches his home."

" Don't worry." interrupted Tazuna with a fake laugh. " I'm sure my cute little grandson won't cry to much if I die."

Sasuke and Naruto's eyes bugged.

" I think we should continue on with him, but since this is a dangerous situation, it's your choice." explained Kakashi. " We're going to vote on this."

Sakura held her tongue, hoping Naruto and Sasuke would speak first. It was important that they want to continue without the pressure of her voting for it.

" I agree." said Sasuke quietly, looking at the nearby village.

" Yeah." Naruto mumbled. " I don't want that kid…to…yeah."

" Sakura?" said Kakashi, looking to her. She nodded and Kakashi turned to Tazuna. " It's settled then. We'll stick around for a while longer."

" Thanks." replied Tazuna, looking very relieved. " Well, it's this way. Let's go."

Sakura trailed behind her teammates as they followed the old man, hoping things would be all right.

--

The Hokage considered himself blessed in many ways. He had a loving family, a good legacy, and his mind was still good. But, far more important to a man his age, he was still regular of bowel.

Speaking of which, he was on his way to the Hokage's bathroom.

Sarutobi hated the concept, but he had to admit it was necessary. How easy would it be to put an explosive tag underneath the toilet seat? Who would think to check when they needed to go? No, the Hokage was pretty much forced to do his business in a ANBU guarded toilet a quarter mile below the Hokage's tower.

At least it was always clean and available.

Sarutobi shut the door behind him and quickly undid his trousers. He sat down quickly, knowing he was going to be in there for a while. He'd had chili for lunch, against the medic-nin's orders, and he was going to pay for it now.

However, he was distracted when he noticed there was a ink mark on the toilet paper.

Curiously, he unrolled the paper, though it would be a hour or two before he needed it. He was mildly amused to see that someone had written on it. Mildly amused due to the humorous nature of what had happened, but somewhat disturbed. Someone had gotten into the most heavily guarded room in the entire village.

" You should keep an eye on Kabuto Yakushi." he read, unfurling the message.

…_..this is either an extremely odd prank or someone stumbled across something very dangerous._ thought the Hokage, ripping the paper off and putting it aside. _I'll have to settle this right away._

PBBTBTBT.

_Or not._ he decided, unfolding a newspaper and checking the obituaries for his old teammates names.


	3. Chapter 3

The moment Sakura sensed the white rabbit she tensed.

" Heh. Foggy today." Tazuna commented, walking along nervously. " In fact, I don't think I've ever seen it so foggy in these woods."

" Down!" shouted Kakashi. Everyone ducked quickly as Zabuza's giant sword whirled at them, narrowly escaping a quick decapitation. Sakura hadn't noticed the first time around, but Tazuna had incredible reflexes for a civilian his age. As the sword flew into the trees Zabuza leapt from hiding, catching it and landing on a branch to observe them.

" Sharingan Kakashi." he said as they stood. " I see why the Demon Brothers failed. I didn't expect to go against one of your skill on this mission."

" Then don't." Kakashi said in a calm tone. Sakura admired the mans outward reserve in dangerous situations like this. " It would be best for everyone involved if there wasn't a fight. At the very least we'll leave each other in bad shape and, may I point out, you can't afford that."

" Who is this guy, sensei?" Naruto inquired. He and Sasuke seemed more in the moment than Sakura had expected, which reassured her.

" Zabuza Momochi. He's also called the Demon of the Mist." explained Kakashi as he and Zabuza watched each other appraisingly. " He's a highly skilled jounin who abandoned the Mist village. While he is most famous for his skill with his sword and gained renown as one of the Seven Mist Swordsmen, he was also his countries master of the silent kill and has bee trained in his villages strongest techniques."

" Very good, Kakashi." said Zabuza, leaping down from the tree and landing a moderate distance away. " It's good to know my reputation had spread to your village."

" Indeed." said Kakashi, pushing back his headband and revealing his Sharingan. " I'm sure mine has reached your ears as well."

" It will be a pleasure to kill you." growled the large man before vanishing into thin air.

" W-what was that?" shouted Naruto.

" It's a Mist technique!" Sakura hissed, looking around. " He's hiding from sight."

" Form up around Tazuna." Kakashi ordered, standing absolutely still. " And stay out of this fight. This is an enemy far too advanced for you."

" I'm sure your little apprentices will obey." taunted Zabuza's voice from nowhere. " But what if I bring the fight to them?"

Sakura sensed Zabuza's presence as he revealed himself behind Sasuke, slashing out with his sword. She sped forwards and caught the gigantic sword just in time, struggling to hold it against Zabuza's prodigious natural strength. He looked stunned, obviously not expecting a girl Sakura's age to be able to hold his attack for even a moment.

Then Sakura focused more chakra and ripped the sword from his hands. She felt a rush of triumph, but that was quickly quelled as Zabuza and the sword disintegrated into water.

" Sakura, are you okay?" Kakashi called, a kunai in hand. He had been a moment from charging over to help when the water clone vanished.

" Yes." Sakura replied quickly, retaking her spot in the formation.

" Thanks." said Sasuke, looking slightly shaken.

" No-"

Sakura never finished her reply, for at that moment four Zabuza's appeared. Three of them attacked Kakashi, forcing him to waste precious time evading as the fourth attacked Sakura. She barely ducked the opening swipe of the blade when Zabuza landed a vicious kick to her midsection, knocking her backwards into the forest. She struck a tree and gave out a cry of pain as she felt several ribs crack.

" Sakura!" shouted Naruto as the Kakashi cut though the last of the clones.

" S-stay put!" Sakura coughed, tasting blood. She began to form the hand seals for a healing jutsu, but she felt too weak. _A medic-nin can't afford to get hit._ came Tsunade's scolding voice. _Because if the medic dies, who heals the team?_

" One down." said the disembodied voice of Zabuza. " Two to go. Here's a fair offer, Kakashi. Let me have the bridge builder and I won't harm the rest of your apprentices."

" That won't be necessary." growled Kakashi. Even with her dimmed vision Sakura could see the anger on his face. He gripped his wrist and there was a crackling sound as the Chidori formed on his hand. " Naruto, Sasuke, move Tazuna over to Sakura. Guard her with your lives, understand?"

" Yeah." said Sasuke. There was a dark, angry look on his face that was mirrored by the rage on Naruto's. They began to slowly and cautiously walk Tazuna towards the treeline as Kakashi scanned the mist with his eye.

In the instant that Zabuza appeared for his attack Kakashi tackled him out of midair. The mist ninja barely avoided the lightning attack as they toppled to the side, quickly breaking apart and standing. Zabuza slashed at Kakashi with his sword, dancing around Kakashi's counterattack and beginning a blurred pattern of evasion and attack.

" How badly hurt are you?" Sasuke asked, leaning over Sakura as Naruto formed several clones around Tazuna.

" Mostly broken ribs. It's not too bad." Sakura replied. She then coughed, spraying a slight spittle of blood onto her hand.

" I may not be a doctor, but I know a few things." said Tazuna, kneeling at her sides. " I'm going to have to touch you to see how bad it is, though."

Sakura nodded and clenched her jaw as she felt a needle like burst of pain in her side.

Elsewhere, Zabuza beginning to run somewhat ragged at Kakashi's attack. Speed was Kakashi's advantage and his famous attack could kill with a single hit, so Zabuza couldn't afford any missteps or mistakes.

Then he looked into the Sharingan and froze, unable to move.

Kakashi wasted no time in lunging for the kill, but he was stopped by a hail of senbon needles. He came to a halt a short distance back as a green robed individual in an ANBU mask landed at Zabuza's side, hitting him and breaking him from the hypnotism.

" Damn." swore Zabuza, looking to the ground. " Watch for that eye."

" Go help sensei!" Sakura urged, gasping slightly from the pain. Naruto and Sasuke nodded to her and departed.

" Don't worry." said Tazuna, but Sakura's hearing was fading. She'd exerted herself too much and couldn't hold on. " The breaks aren't too bad…."

--

When Sakura came too, she could feel a soft mattress beneath her.

_Thank god._ she thought, wincing as she felt the pain in her side reassert itself. She opened one eye and saw she was in the room that Kakashi had rested in during the week before the battle on the bridge. That meant that they had won, but she didn't know at what cost.

" Hello?" she called weakly.

" Sakura!"

The door to the room flew open and Kakashi rushed in, followed closely by a roughed up looking Naruto and Sasuke.

" How are you feeling?" asked the jounin, kneeling at her side.

" Not good." she replied honestly.

" You've got a pretty bad injury." Kakashi explained, looking her straight in the eyes. " When you were out we weren't exactly sure if you were going to make it. I've got first aid training, but I can't deal with this. Your not going to be able to move for a while."

" That's okay." Sakura replied. " We won, right?"

" We…had a draw." said Kakashi, looking away. " I managed to injure Zabuza and Naruto and Sasuke held off his companion before they escaped. They are going to be back, but they'll need at least a day or two to rest up."

" A day or two?" exclaimed Sakura, alarmed.

" Indeed. We're resting up as well. I'm going to go get you some water, so I'll be right back." said Kakashi, standing and walking from the room.

" Can I get you anything, Sakura-chan?" Naruto inquired, looking at her intently. Sakura was relieved to see that his eyes had regained their old warmth and focus.

" No, but you could tell me how the fight went." Sakura said with a small smile, holding her side gingerly.

" Well, I rushed the girl in the mask once we left." Naruto explained. " With a lot of clones. She destroyed them with needles and hit me in the leg, but then Sasuke attacked with that shadow thing."

" Shadow shuriken." interjected Sasuke. " I occupied the woman with shuriken long enough for Naruto to form a few more clones, then used my grand fireball jutsu. She evaded and Naruto's clones attacked her in midair, but she was too fast. I joined in the attack and had just began to match her speed when she caught me with a kick to the side of the head."

" While Sasuke was down I charged again. About that time Kaka-sensei grazed Zabuza with that blue glowing thing-"

" Chidori." corrected Sasuke.

" Gesundheit. Anyways, the needle chick seemed kind distracted after that since he was losing a lot of blood. Me and Sasuke attacked at the same time but then she made this mirror out of ice and leapt into it. Next thing we knew she flew past us in a blur and vanished with Zabuza. That's pretty much it."

" Wow." said Sakura with a nod. " I wish I could have been there to help."

" You did your part." Sasuke said quietly. Sakura blinked in shock, looking to the boy. He avoided her gaze and blushed. " I didn't see Zabuza's attack. He'd have killed me if you hadn't stopped him. T-t-thank you." he stammered.

_He's embarrassed?_ she thought, totally distracted from her injury. _Wait! He's blushing! That means-_

" I'm back." said Kakashi, strolling in with a glass of water. Sasuke's face immediately returned to the old scowl, though the hint of red remained.

--

Sakura released the healing jutsu, feeling her chakra begin to dip low. When night had fallen Sasuke and Naruto had left her alone, giving her the chance to try and heal herself. Kakashi had forbid it, but she knew better. The strain wasn't going to make things much worse and she'd fixed most of the damage already.

She lay back, feeling the dull throb of the large bruise that had formed on her skin. _Last time we had a week._ she thought, mind racing as she considered the implications of what was at stake. _If Naruto and Sasuke don't have the chakra focusing technique , they won't be able to beat Haku, if it even happens that way. There's no time for Kaka-sensei to teach them and I'm not going to be able to provide much help in the next fight. _

_I've made things worse._

Sakura was broken from her thoughts by the scraping of the door. Kakashi entered quietly, shutting the door behind him. He walked over to Sakura's bed and took a seat, giving her a concerned look.

" I take it the healing went decently?" he asked, breaking the silence.

" I fixed the bones, but I'm still beat up." Sakura replied. " You knew I'd try it?"

" I did." Kakashi replied, looking her in the eye. " I…knew a girl who was a great deal like you. She would have done so, so I assumed you would too. I'm here to tell you, though, that you are going to have to rest here no matter what. You know how powerful Zabuza is and I saw his ally fighting Naruto and Sasuke and can tell she's no weakling either. I'm not even sure I want Sasuke and Naruto to fight. If we had more time there are some things I could teach them I didn't expect them to need for a C-rank mission, but there won't be. We're safe for tomorrow but after that Zabuza will have had enough time to recover."

"…"

" Who was this girl?" Sakura inquired, not wanting to focus on the danger they were in for a moment.

" I don't want to get into that now." Kakashi said gruffly, standing up. " Now get some sleep."

As he left, Sakura put her head to the pillow and instantly fell asleep.

--

" Morning, Sakura-chan!"

" Hn."

Sakura groaned as Sasuke and Naruto marched into her room loudly, brining her breakfast. She sat up gingerly as Naruto set the tray next to her and Sasuke opened the windows to let in some light and fresh air.

" Thanks." said Sakura, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

" No problem, Sakura-chan!" bellowed Naruto. " Hey, I could feed you if your not feeling to well."

" Nice try." Sakura replied with a smile, bopping his lightly on the head. " So, you two are resting up today too, right?" she inquired.

" Hn." grunted Sasuke, looking distant.

" Kaka-sensei says we should." Naruto said, looking put off. " I don't see why. I feel fine and the teme over there doesn't feel anything."

" So you two would rather be learning a new jutsu that could help you when Zabuza returns?" Sakura asked slyly, hatching her plot. She had a plan to motivate them both to learn as much of the chakra focusing jutsu as they could in a day. It would be better than nothing, she reasoned.

" Well, yeah." Naruto said, blinking.

" Well, here's what you two are going to do." said Sakura as Sasuke attention shifted to her. She stood wobbly and, despite Naruto's protests, walked to the wall. She then focused her chakra to her feet and walked up the side of the wall, shocking Naruto and Sasuke both. " It's like the technique I use to increase my strength. Focus your chakra into the bottom of your feet and run up the side of a tree out in the forest, marking how high you get with a kunai."

" How will that help?" inquired Sasuke dubiously.

" It's practice for focusing chakra." Sakura explained. " Once you have this down, there's a bunch of things you can do. For example, you could focus chakra into your legs for a burst of speed or expel it from your feet to float on water. And the better chakra control you have, the more you'll be able to use jutsu."

" Walk on water?" said Sasuke, raising an eyebrow. However, Sakura could see that he was hiding his interest in the technique.

" I hate water! I'm definitely learning this jutsu!" exclaimed Naruto.

" Well, you two probably aren't going to be able to do that today." said Sakura, sitting back down on her bed and putting her hand to her chin as if deep in thought. " Girls have better chakra control than boys and it took me a few days."

Sasuke blinked.

Naruto blinked.

" We'll have this jutsu mastered by sundown!" they declared in unison, pointing at her accusingly before racing outside. Sakura almost laughed at how easy that had been, hoping they didn't overwork themselves.

--

" Sakura?" said Kakashi in a tense voice.

" Yeah?" she replied, looking up from her lunch. Tazuna's daughter been working hard all day cooking for them and she'd done a wonderful job. Sakura and Kakashi had been enjoying a meal with the family until Kakashi suddenly got up and walked to the window.

" Did you…tell Naruto and Sasuke to go train in the woods?" he inquired. " With some new jutsu, for example?"

" Uh…yeah." Sakura said sheepishly. " Why do you ask?"

" The woods are on fire."

" What?" exclaimed Sakura, leaping to her feet. She regretted the movement but pressed on to the window as Tazuna and his family crowded around to see. True enough, there was smoke rising and several visible flames. " How did…." she began to mouth in shock.

" I'll handle this." sighed Kakashi, walking towards the door. " Sakura, you really should be careful what you say to those two."

" Yes, sensei." replied Sakura, staring blankly at the blaze and wondering how on earth Sasuke and Naruto had started it.

--

" We've analyzed the handwriting, Hokage-sama." reported the ANBU captain. He'd came to see the Hokage the moment they had finished inspecting the note on the toilet paper. " It's not an exact match, but we believe it was written by a genin by the name of Sakura Haruno."

"…"

" Sakura Haruno." said the Hokage, looking to the ANBU captain seriously and leaning on his large, cluttered desk. " A genin broke into my private bathroom?"

" It seems so." came the meek reply. " We would bring her in for questioning but she is on a mission at the moment."

" I know." sighed the Hokage, resting his chin on his hand. " I sent her on it. She's on Kakashi's team with Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha."

"…."

" Have you assigned someone to watch Kabuto?"

" We have." replied the ANBU captain with a nod. " A full squad, just to be safe. He was the boy who was found-"

" In the battlefield as a baby." finished the Hokage. " Yes, I know. Keep me alerted to his every action. I've got a feeling in my gut that something big is up an I'd rather play it safe, so issue an alert to all ANBU and jounin to keep their eyes open. And the moment Kakashi's team returns, bring them straight to me."

" Yes, Hokage-sama." replied the captain, racing off to his duties. Sarutobi sighed and leaned back in his chair. He hated things like this and, living in a ninja village, he'd seen a lot of them. At least, for once, he wasn't dealing with Danzo.

" Hokage-sama." said the crippled man, opening the door to Sarutobi's office. " I'd like to discuss an inequity I found on the decorating committees budget. I think it is a Stone Village plot to destroy us."

The Hokage just rolled his eyes.


End file.
